Pastef party

Senegal’s president announced plans to establish a new political party, intensifying political divisions after firing his prime minister. The move follows legislative efforts to limit the president’s powers and disputes over managing undeclared debt from the previous government.

Senegalese lawmakers voted to limit presidential powers, proposing reforms to empower parliament and ban the president from leading a political party or coalition. The move follows political tensions after Speaker Ousmane Sonko was dismissed as prime minister by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, amid a national debt crisis and IMF lending suspension.

Senegal's parliamentary speaker El Malick Ndiaye resigned, enabling his ally Ousmane Sonko—recently dismissed by the president—to seek the parliamentary leadership role. Sonko's Pastef party holds a majority in Senegal's legislature.